On our Discerning History Youtube Channel, we just released a video on the CSS Neuse, were we visit the only full scale replica of a Confederate ironclad and see how Civil War naval technology changed warfare. Stayed tuned to this blog over the next few years

When Spain settled the New World they
found mines which yielded vast riches. But those riches had to be
shipped back to Spain and taxed 20%. To do this, in America they were
made into temporary coins, called macuquinas or cobs. Instead of
rolling the metal into a smooth sheet, the cobs were just cut off of
a bar at their approximate weight and then hand struck in a rough
die. Roughly made, they were only in this form temporarily until they
could be melted down in Spain and turned into coins or jewelry. Some
cobs, however, did circulate as currency making their way to the
Spanish colonies. This brought numerous problems. Since they were of
such poor quality, a little metal could easily be clipped off without
anyone noticing, because their shape was already irregular. This
produced coins that were significantly lighter than the originals.

This particular coin, which I bought a few weeks ago, was minted during
the reign of Philip V, between 1700 and 1746. When King Charles II of
Spain died in 1700 without any children, he named Philip, the
grandson of his half sister, his heir. The succession of the Spanish
kings at the time was very complex. Philip was the first member of
the House of Bourbon to become king of France. Bourbon is a French
family, but Philip had attained the kingship through the marriage of
his grandmother to King Louis XIV of France. To avoid an
international crisis because of a powerful alliance, Philip upon
becoming King of Spain had to renounce all claims to the kingship of
France. Interestingly enough, upon becoming King of Spain, the 17
year old Philip had not yet learned Spanish.

Philip riding into battle

Although the English and Dutch had not
opposed Philip when he became king, the next year the War of Spanish
Succession broke out because they feared that France and Spain would
be united under one Bourbon monarch. The Holy Roman Empire, with
Great Britain, the Dutch and parts of Spain loyal to the House of
Habsburg fought against France and the rest of Spain under Philip.
The war finally ended in 1713 when Philip renounced all claim to the
throne of France. This costly war sped up the decline of the Spanish
empire.

King Louis I

In 1724 Philip abdicated his throne to
his 17 year old son Louis. The reasons for this are still debated. It
may be that he hoped to obtain the kingdom of France, or he may have
been gradually going insane and become unfit to rule. Either way it
did not last long. Within the year his son died of smallpox, and he
resumed the kingship as he had no other son old enough to take the
kingdom. Although Spain had been very rich because of the precious
medals obtained from the New World, by this time they were in serious
financial difficulty. Thousands of servants were employed at the
palace while the rest of the government went without pay for months.
The government was only kept going by the treasure ships coming from
America, one this coin may well have been on. Spain effectively went
bankrupt in 1739 by refusing payment on its debts. Philip died in
July, 1746 after the longest reign in modern Spanish history.

I went to this year's San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival this past weekend for the showing of one of the episodes from our DVD series Discerning History: Causes of the Civil War. Here are some pictures taken along the way: